Outlasting Political Blunders

[dan_bgblue]

America has a good bit of experience at that endeavor.

[dan_bgblue]

Biden to Afghanistan: Drop Dead

None of this is my fault

[dan_bgblue]

U.S. Military Veterans Rush to Help Afghan Interpreters Escape

[CitizenBBN]

America has a bad history of this kind of abandonment of allies, but i would have hoped we would have learned from some of those lessons.

And I'm not sure any are as bad as this one in sheer numbers and consequences on an individual human level. Maybe a few, but when you count in us being there 20 years and the fact that it collapsed in 11 days leaving not just foreign allies but thousands of Americans at the mercy of an undisciplined, cruel enemy, it has to be one of the worst such American incidents.

The fact that it was possible to do this with minimum losses makes it one of the worst such political failures, and miscalculations.

It's humiliating. Embarrassing. I'm sorry this is what America has become. A nation of good people ruled by a corrupt, selfish, naive ruling elite that squanders generations of sacrifice and hard work to build a great nation. We are ruled by the politicians, but also the Washington career bureaucrats and petty power brokers who really run our intelligence agencies, the Pentagon, Congress and the White house. They have the real power.

Trump is an asshat, but he's right about the "swamp". If this debacle in Afghanistan doesn't show how far things have gone there, how corrupt and self serving and completely naive of the world outside of the Potomac river basin operates, then nothing will. Either US leaders had no clue the Taliban would take over this fast or they just lied about it and didn't care, but either way it's clear they are truly the "swamp".

One would think that Vietnam would have been a one time only lesson. Apparently not, as we repeat that same pattern over and over to one degree or another.

[Catonahottinroof]

This one is pretty bad and Taiwan will pay the steepest price for it.

[dan_bgblue]

It seems to me that the Mullahs will not appreciate the fact that Sleepy has upset their apple cart.

Given the history between the two countries, Iran would have preferred a political settlement in Afghanistan that didn’t leave the Taliban as the sole rulers. Iranian officials had called for a responsible withdrawal of U.S. troops, rather than the swift exit they have demanded in Iraq, said Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, an expert on Afghan-Iranian relations with the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank.

[Doc]

It seems to me that the Mullahs will not appreciate the fact that Sleepy has upset their apple cart.

Given the history between the two countries, Iran would have preferred a political settlement in Afghanistan that didn’t leave the Taliban as the sole rulers. Iranian officials had called for a responsible withdrawal of U.S. troops, rather than the swift exit they have demanded in Iraq, said Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, an expert on Afghan-Iranian relations with the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank.

Geesh....even Iran knew this approach was stupid

[KeithKSR]

You would think that after the proliferation of the JV team this group of amateurs would have been able to anticipate what the Taliban would do if given an opportunity.

[dan_bgblue]

Biden Wanted to Leave Afghanistan. He Knew the Risks.

Grandpa Joe Knows Best, and he will brook no further discussion

WASHINGTON—In his Monday speech defending America’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, President Biden said he would not shrink from his share of responsibility.

That would include his decision to bring home U.S. troops, which was made against the recommendations of his top military generals and many diplomats, who warned that a hasty withdrawal would undermine security in Afghanistan, several administration and defense officials said.

The president’s top generals, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley, urged Mr. Biden to keep a force of about 2,500 troops, the size he inherited, while seeking a peace agreement between warring Afghan factions, to help maintain stability. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who previously served as a military commander in the region, said a full withdrawal wouldn’t provide any insurance against instability.

In a series of meetings leading up to his decision, military and intelligence officials told Mr. Biden that security was deteriorating in Afghanistan, and they expressed concerns both about the capabilities of the Afghan military and the Taliban’s likely ability to take over major Afghan cities.

Other advisers, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, raised the possibility of Taliban attacks on U.S. forces and diplomats as well as the Afghans who for two decades worked alongside them. Ultimately, neither disagreed with the president, knowing where he stood.

[dan_bgblue]

Internal State Department Cable Warned of Kabul Collapse

WASHINGTON—An internal State Department memo last month warned top agency officials of the potential collapse of Kabul soon after the U.S.’s Aug. 31 troop withdrawal deadline in Afghanistan, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the document.

The classified cable represents the clearest evidence yet that the administration had been warned by its own officials on the ground that the Taliban’s advance was imminent and Afghanistan’s military may be unable to stop it.

The cable, sent via the State Department’s confidential dissent channel, warned of rapid territorial gains by the Taliban and the subsequent collapse of Afghan security forces, and offered recommendations on ways to mitigate the crisis and speed up an evacuation, the two people said.

The President is nothing but a politician, and is far from a leader of the Free World. Stupid, sanctimonious clown would be a fitting description I think.

[CitizenBBN]

The President is nothing but a politician, and is far from a leader of the Free World. Stupid, sanctimonious clown would be a fitting description I think.

He's always been a clown. Now he's a clown with 40 years living in Washington who thinks he actually knows what he's doing, and he can't tell Tibet from Tanzania.

[Catonahottinroof]

Well, that’s not as important as his ice cream anyway…..

He's always been a clown. Now he's a clown with 40 years living in Washington who thinks he actually knows what he's doing, and he can't tell Tibet from Tanzania.

[CitizenBBN]

Well, that’s not as important as his ice cream anyway…..

I assume that's a reference to the billboard thing they did?

I'ts ironic b/c Trump had an "ice cream scandal" as well, and in truth neither one of them deserved/deserves to lead America or the Free World.

FWIW I like that billboard, and I think in this case it's deserved simply b/c Biden has refused to address an obvious global crisis. Just like the campaign, his staff and the party leaders know he can't handle it, so they hide him away and hope it will just blow over.

Hell, people voted for a guy who couldn't do his own press conference, so maybe they're right, but since he was basically elected as "President Not Trump", I'm betting the farther we get from Trump the less that will work.

[dan_bgblue]

After realizing that being the President is really hard, and he was never really that excited about it anyway, President Biden decided to go ahead and just hang a giant 'Trump Won' sign out of the White House window.

Linkage

[KeithKSR]

I assume that's a reference to the billboard thing they did?

I'ts ironic b/c Trump had an "ice cream scandal" as well, and in truth neither one of them deserved/deserves to lead America or the Free World.

FWIW I like that billboard, and I think in this case it's deserved simply b/c Biden has refused to address an obvious global crisis. Just like the campaign, his staff and the party leaders know he can't handle it, so they hide him away and hope it will just blow over.

Hell, people voted for a guy who couldn't do his own press conference, so maybe they're right, but since he was basically elected as "President Not Trump", I'm betting the farther we get from Trump the less that will work.

Biden was basically elected by the media. The media suppressed information about his and his family’s shakedowns for profit, while blowing up knowingly false stories of Trump and Russia. The total lack of scrutiny of Biden by the media was an injustice perpetrated on the American people.